The present invention relates to heating and cooling systems. In particular, the present invention relates to an energy savings device used within conventional heating and cooling systems that regulates the temperature of predetermined areas of a facility and reduces the overall cost associated with heating and cooling the facility.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional single zone (i.e., whole house) forced air heating and cooling system, which typically employs a single central heating and cooling plant 11 with respective conduits 15 and 17 to transfer the heated or cooled air to all the various areas or rooms 10, 18 and 19 serviced. In such systems, a single (main) control thermostat 20 and heating/cooling mode control 22 is typically located in one of the cooled or heated areas or rooms serviced (e.g., room 10) to control the temperature of an entire facility or household 13. In conventional hot water heat systems, boiler and/or water cooler is employed to heat or cool water which is circulated pipes (which would augment or replace conduits 15 and 17) to heat exchangers (not shown) located in various rooms 10, 18 and 18. Like forced air systems, the single (main) thermostat 20 and mode control is typically located in one of the many heated or cooled rooms to automatically control the temperature for the entire facility or household 13.
In the above systems, conduits 15 and 16 transfer the heated or cooled fluid or air to each area or room 10, 18 or 19 serviced. Such systems are limited in that they fail to adequately provide for the automatic, individual temperature control in each of the rooms or areas. For example, dampers 16 are often utilized to alter airflow within the supply conduit 15 to balance the heating and cooling throughout the facility or household 13 to more evenly heat/cool the facility. In an attempt to overcome the limitations of the single zone systems of FIG. 1 and to conserve energy many homes have multiple zone heating and cooling systems, each zone being a subset of the entire facility 13. These systems require the installation of separate heating/cooling plants 11 for each zone. While more efficient than single zone systems, such systems are disadvantageous due to the prohibitively high costs of installing separate heating/cooling plants and conduits or pipes for each zone.
Another disadvantage of conventional single zone systems is that in homes that employ a single main thermostat 20 for all the rooms 10, 18 and 19, all of the rooms are heated or cooled to substantially the same temperature without any provision to control and maintain the individual room temperatures during the period of use or non-use. This condition results in the wasting and excess use of energy. For example, because the facility thermostat 20 is in room 10, it is not possible to raise the temperature of room 18 to 70xc2x0 F. while maintaining the other rooms 10 and 19 at 60xc2x0 F. It is not possible to do so as the heating plant 11 will turn-off when room 10 reaches 60xc2x0 F., which will be before room 18 reaches 70xc2x0 F. Dampers 16 or room vents (not shown) may be adjusted to divert warm air to room 18, however, this too fails to accurately vary and control the individual room temperatures. Other systems, such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,927 to Zelczer et al. disadvantageously require flow control devices that close the fluid flow.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a device that will individually control room temperatures in facilities having a conventional heating/cooling plants. There is also a need for a device that reduces energy consumption with minimal compromise in comfort. Further, there is a need for the device to operate in both heating and cooling environments, baseboard heating systems, and forced air systems. Yet further, the device should be relatively cost effective in achieving these needs. The present invention provides such a system.
The present invention provides an area or room temperature control apparatus for a central heating and/or cooling systems having a central fluid heating or cooling plant or a central forced air heating or cooling plant with respective conduits which direct the heated or cooled fluid or air to the individual rooms being serviced by the same system in a home or an office complex. The area temperature control apparatus operates automatically to control the temperature in each individual room within a predetermined temperature range during any particular time period. It also operates to reduce unnecessary heating or cooling of individual rooms or areas consisting of one or more rooms during cyclical periods of use, whereby substantial energy savings may be realized with minimal compromise to comfort. More particularly, the area temperature control apparatus operates within heating/cooling systems to deliver heated or cooled air to individual rooms within a facility to maintain individual rooms substantially at a predetermined temperature after a first (main) thermostat controlling the heating/cooling plant is activated and the respective conduits attain a prescribed temperature.
The energy savings device (ESD) of the present invention provides for individual control of the temperature of each room within the facility. This device provides a fan and two additional thermostats to control the temperature in each room. One thermostat is located in the ESD to activate a fan only when the baseboard-heating element, cooling element, or conduit temperature provides a pre-selected sufficient temperature level range to activate a fan. The fan size is designed to provide sufficient air transfer capacity to increase or decrease the temperature of any room. The speed of the fan preferably provides airflow that exceeds the airflow velocity of the facility heating and cooling unit. The other thermostat is located remotely in each room and deactivates the fan when the temperature in any room exceeds or is less than the desired temperature level. Such a unit provides for increased comfort and energy savings from the reduced heating or cooling of rooms not in use, while reducing the environmental impact due to the efficiency of the unit.